Gael & Ivan, learning to build the things only they would want.
Claude Code is an app that builds websites and apps for you. You talk to it in plain English — like texting a friend who happens to be a really fast coder — and it builds whatever you ask.
Claude Code can write code faster than anyone on Earth. But it doesn't know what you want. That's your job.
Pick the idea. The weirder and more "yours," the better. Nobody else can do this part.
Like having a really good coder who never gets tired and never says "that's a dumb idea."
Open the page. Click around. Tell it what's wrong. Don't trust "it works" — go check.
No home address, no phone numbers, no passwords, no school logins, no real credit card numbers. If you need fake test data, ask Dad and we'll make it up together.
If a website you built shows something scary, if Claude asks you to do something that feels off, or you just have a bad feeling — come find me. No project is more important than that.
The things you build are yours. Don't post them on YouTube, Discord, TikTok, Reddit, or send them to strangers. Show your family first, and we'll decide together if and how to share.
For most of the work, just one tool: the Claude Code app. You open it, you type, it builds. We'll touch Terminal once in a minute to set up your Sites folder — then it's all Claude from there.
Open it. Type what you want to build. Watch it build. That's the whole interface.
// Tiny bit of Terminal next slide. VS Code + GitHub come in later weeks.
Terminal is a window where you can type instructions to your computer. It's just an app — like Safari or Mail. Nothing scary.
That opens Spotlight, the little search bar in the middle of your screen.
Spotlight finds the app instantly.
Terminal opens. You'll see a window with a blinking cursor.
"ls" means list stuff. It shows you everything inside the folder you're standing in right now. Try it.
When you first open Terminal, you're standing in your home folder. ls shows the same stuff you'd see if you opened Finder and clicked your name.
"mkdir" means make directory. "Directory" is a fancy word for folder. So this command makes a brand new folder called Sites.
"cd" means change directory. It's like walking into a folder. Once you're inside, everything you do happens in there.
Your Sites folder exists. You won't open Terminal again for a while. Time to open Claude Code and tell it where to work.
"From now on, always work in my Sites folder in my home directory. Save every project we build inside there. Never make new projects anywhere else."
From this point on, every time Claude makes a project, it knows to put it inside ~/Sites/. You won't have to say it again.
Quit Terminal. Open Claude Code. From now on, almost everything we build happens inside the Claude Code app.
You each have your own computer with its own Sites folder. Every project Claude builds gets a fresh folder inside. Tidy beats messy.
More detail = better result. Describe what you want like you'd describe it to a friend who can't see what's in your head.
It will make a game. Probably not the one you want.
It builds exactly what you imagined.
Claude Code has two speeds. Knowing when to use each saves you from disasters AND makes the cool stuff happen faster.
Claude makes a plan, shows it to you, and asks "ready?" before writing any code. You can change the plan. Best when the project is big or you're not 100% sure what you want.
⇧ Tab to turn it on
Claude builds straight away. Faster. Best for small changes — "make the button bigger," "change the color to blue," "add another sound effect."
The default. Nothing to enable.
When Claude wants to run a command on your computer, it pops up and asks. Here are the common ones. Green = safe to allow. Red = stop and ask Dad.
Put a file called CLAUDE.md in your Sites folder. Claude reads it every time. It's how you tell it "I'm a kid, walk me through stuff."
A page with your name in giant letters, a grid of your favorite things with pictures, and a photo of you.
A page where you add an assignment (subject, title, due date), group them by due date, check them off when done. Saves automatically so it's still there tomorrow.
Claude makes mistakes. So does every other coder. The trick isn't avoiding mistakes — it's knowing what to do when they happen.
Even if half of it looks like alien language, the part you understand is usually enough to know what went wrong.
"That didn't work. The page is blank." or "The button doesn't do anything when I click it." Be specific.
Claude will sometimes say it's done when it isn't. Open the page yourself and click everything. Trust your eyes.
Some bugs need an adult. No shame — even pro coders ask for help every day. That's the job.
When you're picking your next project, run through these questions. The answer usually shows up.
Today we build on your computer. Nothing online yet. Nothing public. The project lives on the iMac (Gael) or MacBook (Ivan) and stays there.
Open the URL Claude gives you. Click around. Break stuff. Fix it. Show Dad. Show Mom. That's the entire job this week.
Next week: we'll learn how to put your project on the real internet at a URL you can open on your phone. For today, focus on making something you love.
Same time. Same boys. New project.
📅 Week 02 · GitHub + putting your project online